Month: August 2025

Still gonna be a hot one. So humid. So hot. Blazing sun. Forecast has us on the edge of some t-storm possible areas, but we’ll likely have another day like yesterday. And the week before.

I did more work with the machines, cleaned up some details. Put some stuff away. Chatted with one of the neighbors for a while. A slower day for sure, with a late start.

Today will be more of that. Sleeping in a bit, then doing all the normal visit stuff. Lawn needs mowing. Stuff needs to be added to the stacks. Machines need to be fueled and cleaned. They are scheduled for pickup on Monday morning. Maybe I’ll leave for home before dark, we’ll see how it goes. There is always more that could be done, but I’m not starting any projects.

It’s been a productive 9 days.

It’s been hot, and hard work too. Filthy work with red clay silt everywhere, and the dust from the slag too. My throat hurts from breathing all the cr@p. Or I’m getting sick, but I hope it’s environmental.

Time to wrap up this show and get ready for the next thing.

More stacking. More working to improve.

nick

And it’s still hot. Humid like a swamp. Sun like a laser death ray. And that was yesterday. Today will likely be the same.

I did get stuff done. I’ve finished the walkway. I’ve knocked down all the dirt piles and flattened the area. I’ll take another look in good light, but I think I’ll throw some grass seed on it and walk away. I’ve still got crushed slag left, and I have a potential use. My fishing buddy suggested making a pad under the new shed where I’ll park the lawn mower.

Unfortunately, the old shed is still there. I would love to crank something out while I have the machines, but the shed project is far down the list. I guess I’ll just have another pile of material waiting for the time.

Today I’ve got cleanup, and putting things away. I’ll take an hour and call into my non-prepping hobby meeting instead of attending in person. That gives me 8 hours of daylight today, and 10-12 tomorrow for working. Or maybe it gives me time to take a break before rushing home into the beginning of the school year.

Gotta stop and smell the roses sometimes.

Always be working. And stack some good times too.

nick

Hot. So hot in the sun. And humid. Crazy humid. Ten minutes of raking in the sun and I need to go inside and cool down. And a breeze? What’s that? I think today will be like the last three days. Gorgeous and sunny, if I was on vacation. Misery if I’m working outdoors.

I got a lot done. See yesterday’s comments for details. There is still plenty on the list, if they don’t pick up the machines today. If they do, I’ll go home. If not, I’ll stay and keep working.

I’ve got plenty still to do. I need to finish cleaning up from the walkway install. There are a few more grading things to do, and I need to finish knocking down the dirt piles I had left over from 2023 when I last had the machines here. And I’ll have to move the leftover crushed slag. I guess I’ll have a pile of something no matter what I do.

A second home takes a lot of work. A BOL takes more because of the rural setting, lack of local services and stores, and providing more of your own services and support. The work I’m doing this week isn’t critical. It won’t increase my readiness or resilience (well the new garden might), but it does impact the family’s use of the property, and it helps with integration into the community.

And those are good things.

Keep stacking. Keep working. Keep the faith.

nick

And the weather is hot and humid. The extreme humidity and lack of a breeze make it very hard to stay cool and productive. In the shade, it’s doable. In the sun? Short bursts of work and cool down laying on the cool concrete floor…

So I did a lot of work yesterday. Got the edging installed, got the slag placed. See yesterday’s comments for details. I’m OK with how it looks, but I think more compaction and some additional fine ground material will help even it out. I think I will head to town today to see about renting a compactor. I have to fill my diesel tanks, and I might want some cream for my coffee…

I felt less wiped out last night, but I’m betting on stiff and sore for today. Climbing in and out of the machines is getting old.

Still, work is happening.

Improvements are being made.No stacking, except goodwill. Best I can do this week.

nick

Hot and clear today, if the forecast holds up. It was beautiful yesterday, if I wasn’t working outdoors in the sun. I actually got a fan and plugged it in outside because it was so stifling.

I did get a bunch of stuff done. I pealed back the weed barrier to allow the muck to dry. That mostly worked. Since it was wet and squishy, I started moving dirt. Moved a bunch of sand to the garden plot, then more dirt on top. They’ll mix later when I roto-till. I wanted to loosen up the clay soil.

Then I started moving dirt from piles to laying on the ground. Took out a tree stump and filled that hole during the process. When I needed a break I took the machines and dug out a hole in the yard. It’s been there since we bought the place and looked like it might be an animal den. Nope. Just roots, rocks, and an abandoned sprinkler pipe. I dug around then filled it back in.

Used the machine to pull the clothesline T bar. The other one got pulled when we did the septic. Years ago. It’s right at the height to tear up my forehead or poke out and eye when I’m on the mower. Not any more Mr. T.

Toward the end of the day, the muck was still squishy so I had the idea of putting clay power on it to dry it out. Worked, but I had to throw the powder with a shovel. Did about 2/3 of a cubic yard. Then it was time to cover all the prepared area with the weed barrier and put tools away. Oh, during the morning, I installed one of the side boards that will hold the slag in place. I’m using the mattock to dig a narrow trench to hold the board at the right height. Hard work in clay and rock. And the occasional root, or gas line.

Today my slag gets delivered in the morning. Early. I’ll work on finishing the edge boards and start placing it. I really want to get the job finished. Hope I did the math and base layer right and I have enough material ordered. If that goes well, I’ll move on to then next thing on my list.

Always working. Yup. And stacking, goodwill this week…

nick

Humid. Oh my. 75F last night and dew was condensing on me, my radio, and everything else too. The rain started around 8am, stopped around 11am, and the sun poked through occasionally. Dusk was very nice. I’m hoping today lets everything dry off and lets me keep working on my walkway.

I couldn’t work on it yesterday, so I did a bunch of grading and roadway repair for the common area. I also did some for myself. There was a gutter separating the street from my driveway that had filled in with the road base material. It’s supposed to divert some of the water that otherwise pours down my sloped driveway and into the garage. Hopefully the restored gutter will help control that again. It will fill back up with time, but maybe I can keep it clear now that I’ve used the machine to dig it out. I took several cubic yards of material and put it in other eroded areas.

Today, if it’s dry, I’ll try to get more stuff done on the walkway. If not, I’ll do some of the other earthmoving stuff on my property. Flexibility and a really long list of things I could do if I have time will keep me moving.

Always be working… and stacking.

nick

Hot. Humid. VERY hot in the sun. The temp never broke 100F that I’m aware of but I still had to come in and cool off several times. The humidity is just too high to cool off.

I did a bunch of work yesterday. Did some work on the park when I needed to move fast and not think much. Did the work on the walkway. I have it leveled, compacted, and half covered with weed barrier. I am almost ready to install the edge boards and then I’ll be ready to fill with gravel.

That’s what I’ll be doing today, getting the edges installed, and doing the last bit of leveling and compacting. I’m sure I’ll alternate with some of the other stuff on the list. I wish I’d taken a break before I sheared off the hose bib…

I think I will be taking more cool off breaks today. No point in getting hurt.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working. Always working. Good thing I enjoy working.

Stack up something you love.

nick

Hot and the forecast has all of Texas in a potential thunderstorm area. It sprinkled several times yesterday, once in the morning at the house, once while I was driving the 40 miles to the Lowes store. Since I’m doing dirtwork with red clay, even a tiny bit of rain is a mess.

That said, I did get a lot done. I dug out the drainage ditch at the edge of my lot. I needed to practice with the miniex. The mailbox will probably go back into place… the ditch was silted up with the crushed gravel road base, so it needed some digging.

Despite my misadventure with the water line, I feel pretty good about what I got done. Operating the machines is coming back to me as muscle memory, once I changed the control paradigm for the mini excavator. There are at least 2 schemes in common use, and many more from various manufacturers over the years, and the ISO standard one doesn’t work for me. Fortunately, it’s a simple lever to move on the hydraulic mixer to select the scheme that seems natural to me.

At the end of the day, when I didn’t have enough light to see the detail I needed for my project, I did some scraping and compacting on the boat ramp. There has been significant erosion with all the rain we’ve had up here and one of my goals was to see about fixing some of it. I could work fast and loose in the fading light, and made some improvement. More practice for me with the skid steer too. The main cost for the HOA is maintaining the gravel roads and several of the guys will do touchup with their tractors or other equipment. For me it is part of being a valuable member of this community we joined. Meatspace baby!

Today I’ll do what I can to get the walkway area ready for the crushed slag. If it’s raining I will look at doing something else that isn’t as fussy or right next to the house. There’s a list.

Always be working… and stack up some goodwill if you can.

nick

Hot and humid, again or still. 80F when I went to bed after passing 100F during the day. At least at the BOL there is a cool breeze off the lake. I expect today to be hot, humid, and overcast but clearing later. We’ll see. As long as we don’t get much rain during the day I’m ok.

Did a bunch of stuff on Friday to get ready. Most of it was shopping but also phone calls and ordering stuff. Even bought some stuff on amazon for delivery. We do live in the future.

Got to the BOL too late to do any work, the sun was setting as I pulled up. The mini excavator came with the wrong bucket for most of the work I’m doing and I can’t get it changed until at least Monday. I might have to re-order the work I want to get done. Or try to use what I’ve got.

That’s the plan for today. Get started and see if I can make it work, and if not, figure something else out.

That’s the kind of thing I’m generally good at, overcoming existing constraints to get what needs doing, done.

We’ll see how it goes.

For anyone not playing with big boy toys, stack something!

nick